Week of Milestones

So my last post was my official 200th post. (I thought I had hit it earlier, but realized the counter included some rough drafts, so the actual one was today's post) Also today I received my 5,000th page view. Kinda cool. I started this blog to share about my family. It's evolved into something much more. I really try to share about our farm, our family, the things we eat and places we love. I sometimes wish I was more knowledgable to make this a true farm blog, or that I took better pictures so that you, the readers could 'see' the story more clearly OR that I was a more productive quilter to share all the projects that I do, but well after 200 posts, you probably realize that isn't me.
One thing that is me, is I am a person who likes to share the things I love with others. So in celebration of my 200th post and 5,000th page view (that's the count of how many times people have came to my blog to read my crazy stories, in case you didn't know) I am going to do a give-away. I will randomly draw a name of the people who comment on this post. I haven't decided 100% what you will get, but it will be handmade and somehow tie into our farm.
Thank you for indulging me and continuing to come back and see what we are up to here at H&K Farms in Beautiful Downtown Tulip!
Typing while listening to overactive puppy complain about being put to bed and thinking of heading there myself,
From Tulip~
KH
:)

Silent Saturday (or as 'quiet' as I can be!)



Before the Tourney at Camdenton, love that my wrestler has friends from all over!




The 'look' I always feel sorry for his opponents when I see this look, be nice Samuel!

  

And its a winner! (was three times last week!) My favorite shot to get, outside of the ref smacking the mat when he gets a pin!

JH giving Macy her bath, a little smaller than what my Cattle Whisperer is used to bathing.

She stood there and didn't try to jump out or even cry. While she looks dejected, I think she knew a professional was in charge.



Clean and beautiful again!

 Since I am not supposed to write anything but captions and a closing--guess that's all--hoping you are having a GREAT Saturday,
From Tulip~
KH
:)

So you wanna Quilt?!?!?!?

Over the last few years, I have taken up quilting, or to be more specific, piecing quilts. Like most people my first sewing experiences were 4H projects or Home Ec assignments. Over the years I have always had a sewing machine. I have always sewn something. Particularly the big boys had many homemade Halloween costumes. Alot of the curtains in our house, I have made. In the last few years, many of the gifts I have given, have been quilts! Our little town has a great quilt shop, Material Girl Quilt Shop. It's ran by a good friend of mine, Meredith. Over the years I have exercised my creative impulses by crafting, scrapbooking, now quilting. I have to say I love it.

I not only sew for my family, I have taken it a step further, I teach basic sewing and quilting classes. I know that if I can do it, anyone can. Plus I find it so satisfying, I want others to enjoy this hobby as well. There's no better way to get them into it, than to show just how easy it really is. I would like to share some advice for things that have helped me. The first piece, I sort of already mentioned. That piece of advice is find a quilt shop and develop a relationship there. The people at quilt shops likely 'think like you do' and usually understand when you have 'crazy' questions.

One of my other goals is to help others gain confidence in their sewing ability. Not everyone will hand piece and quilt a postage stamp quilt, but everyone after gaining a few basic skills can make and enjoy making quilts. There are many tools out there to help you along the way. I am a visual learner. Taking quilt classes is great way to learn. You can watch the teacher create the project, bounce ideas off the other students and so much more.

If a quilting class isn't something that you can get to, there's many other choices out there. One of my favorites is, You-tube. There are gobs of tutorials for many quilting techniques. One in particular that I like to go to is Missouri Star Quilt Company, MSQC you tube link  they have a channel and update with new videos weekly. The thing I really like about them is that you can go back and watch over and over.

There are many great quilt blogs out there as well. One of my favorites in Moda Bake Shop go here. While it looks like a blog, each and every entry is a 'free pattern' Most of the patterns on MBS showcase great ways to use Moda Fabric Company's 'precut' retail items. Precuts are another 'quick and easy' tool for beginning quilting. Moda offers precuts in several popular sizes, 'Charm Packs' contain 5 inch squares, 'Layer Cakes' have 10 inch squares, and 'Jelly Rolls' have 2.5 inch strips. Many MANY projects can be made using these great precut packets!

Another quick tool I really recommend that a beginning quilt invest in would be a rotary cutter, cutting mat and ruler. The speed that would will be able to cut out projects will amaze you. Sure you will need the basics like a sewing machine,basic tools, like scissors, pins, thread, seam ripper. You will also want to have on hand a good iron and ironing board.

These are just some of the few speed tools and I sure there are an million more. If you are interested, I generally teach a monthly class on a basic quilt that you can likely complete over a weekend. Let me know if you'd like to join our group.
Enjoying the sharing of a quilting post and wishing I was actually quilting, instead of merely talking about it,
From Tulip~
KH
:)